Time to Head to Sydney!!

After a good victory by the US over the Russians...I enjoyed a solid nights sleep.  There weren't a lot of welcoming or talkative people at the parrotfish lodge...but I did make conversation with a nice girl from DC who had made her way to the common area from the washroom.  This was obvious by her wet hair but also by the pleasant aroma of shampoo'd hair....which was devoid from the other non social types in attendance.  Their tree funk was just as well served outside in their drum circle rather near me while trying to watch rugby...furthered by a couple of their snyde comments about US Rugby, I decided not to be social myself... anyway  The comments sparked a rolling of the eyes from
Herbel Essence as I can't recall her name.  She was a bit reserve at first but soon opened up when we found common ground to talk.  Raleigh being 4hours south of DC and friends who played rugby seemed to take that space as well as careers and travel.  Seemed she was working on a dive boat in the area that does multi day or overnight trips.  I couldn't get a clear answer or idea of what she left behind in the states but didn't press either. She was more eager to catch up on what was going on back there with state of things economy and politics.  I did the best i could to fill in the gaps with neither of those things being of huge interests to me, thankfully the rugby came back on for the second half and provided a change of subject.  She had a 5am wakeup for another 3 day trip so off she went...and I wasn't too far behind after the match.

Luckily the next morning there was much more chipper soles maning the breakfast bar.  A girl from Iowa named Kate, and a German Girl named Felicia were quite inquisitive and made for a nice start to the day. They were also helpful in helping me take care of some travel plans and minor things such as currency exchange etc.  Kate didn't work on any of the boats but rather had two service jobs at the hotels...she plans to work for a year (9mos left) and then go from there...she hadn't really made an attempt at University but decided to see where the road would take her by traveling to Australia.  A central theme which a lot of people seemed to be doing... once their One Year work visa is up...they travel out of country.  Usually to Bali due to the cheapness, and then this allows them to apply for another travel visa of 3 months or another work for a year.  Another girl heard the american accent and decided to sit and join in.... Mary was a "pearler" from Tampa and was on the same travel plans as the others...only difference being she had a degree in Community Development and was hoping to land a permanent job.  This was of interest since jobs that have particular importance in Australia and are hard to fill with natural born citizens seem to be an easier route for ex-pats to land.  She had talked extensively about that process with the lawyers and such and agreed my degree and more importantly my experience would be valued in visa assesments.  It was a bit to keep focus on the topic since Mary was very very easy on the eyes.   Good ole Florida gal....of course mom is proping up right now!

Well time was flying, I wish these friendlies had been around to make fun of last night...but I had to get on the road ehh such is timing.  Anyway, I was excited to get on the road to Sydney and the crux of my trip down here.  

Like mentioned I did stop for a tody in true Ellis spirit... here you go new family in laws.  Good place....

So once in the Airport I had to check twice and make sure I wasn't in China....appearently they aren't the only ones to completely rip of a chain...



Anyway, I was aboard the couple half hour flight to Sydney and amped with energy.  I got checked in and eager to get out n' about to see the city at night.  Well turns out I have 4 other German girls in my dorm.. ehh ok, well cool.  Glad they weren't Stazi and very friendly....also very eager to practice their English.  So we were fast friends.   They had been in town a week, and were off at the end of the weekend to various jobs in Perth, Melbourne so... they decided to take me out and enjoy some rugby and drinks.  To one's imagination neither were to far away.  George Street is a main thourough fare and had any number of establishments....but since I had missed most of the NZ vs Japan match....charlie chan's had a reply going...so we went there....and plenty of drink specials made me happy to be in Sydney.

A couple more hops were in order to see a bit of the nightlife...but my guest decided to head back to the hostel.  I went into several diverent sections of town with the help of my trusty Iphone / google maps etc. And had a good go of it.

In at a respectable time I wanted to get up and hit the Sydney city tour which operates like the Double Deckers in NYC.  It provides good sites of the city and an opportunity to take it on at your on pace.